New Home for Doctor Who in Canada?

According to the website of the Doctor Who Information Network there's a new home for Doctor Who in Canada. Reports have been received that cable network SPACE is the new permanent home for the series. The first four series of the new Doctor Who aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC was a co-production partner for at least part of those four seasons. Despite an initial strong commitment to Doctor Who the CBC came into criticism from fans and viewers in recent years for delays in broadcasting new episodes, decreasing promotion and failing to air the annual Christmas specials in 2007 and 2008.

Upcoming special Planet of the Dead will air on SPACE on Saturday June 20th, 2009. It is reported that Series Five will follow in 2010.

Doctor Who premiered on SPACE in March when the channel aired The Next Doctor but it was not known at that time if the the move was permanent or just a one-off.

Actor Kal Penn joining the Obama administration

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Actor and longtime Obama supporter Kal Penn is joining the Obama administration, the White House confirmed to CNN Tuesday.

The actor will be part of the White House Office of Public Liaison, which is run by Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett. Penn will be primarily involved in dealing with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and the arts community.

Penn's new gig was first reported by EW.com, which shares parent company Time Warner with CNN.

Penn told EW.com that the new position comes after some soul-searching.

There was "'something aching in me to do something completely different and take a break from the acting thing for a while'" Penn said he told the executive producers of the TV series "House" when he explained his decision to get involved with politics full-time.

The actor also said his interest in politics has deep roots. "I've been thinking about [moving into politics] for a while. I love what I do as an actor. I couldn't love it more. . . . .probably from the time I was a kid, I really enjoyed that balance between the arts and public service."

"It's probably because of the value system my grandparents instilled in me. They marched with Gandhi in the Indian independence movement, and that was always in the back of my head. So the past couple of years I thought about it a little more."

But Penn also is leaving the door open to returning to acting at some later point. "Who's to say where any path leads? I still have a passion for it. But for the time being, I won't be acting," Penn told EW.com

Penn endorsed Obama's White House bid in late 2007, and was a frequent campaign surrogate on the trail last year.

Changes take effect in Apple's iTunes prices

NEW YORK – The dominant seller of music on the Internet has a new look: Pricing changes to Apple Inc.'s iTunes Store have gone into effect, with some popular songs now $1.29 apiece.

Apple said in January that it would end its practice of selling all songs for 99 cents a piece and begin offering three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies can pick the prices.

In exchange for the ability to set prices, record labels agreed to sell all songs on iTunes without "digital rights management" technology that hampers users' abilities to copy tracks or play them on multiple computers.

Hey Now, Garry Shandling Rumored For Iron Man 2

Someone should probably tell them it’s called April Fool’s Day, not April Fool’s Month.

But they’re not kidding around. If you’ve been following director Jon Favreau’s Twitter then you know Iron Man 2 started principal photography today. When they started shooting, IESB says Garry Shandling was there on set participating in what will be the last scene of the film.

As for who he’s playing, while it’d be great if Tony Stark went on the Larry Sanders show or something, probably Garry is playing a senator or reporter. Pick a random profession which requires the wearing of a suit. Maybe he’s filling in for Tim Robbins, who put to rest all those rumors that he’d be in it last week.

Garry’s last film role was as the voice of a pessimistic turtle in Over the Hedge. Don’t laugh, he was good.

Beatles catalog to be digitally remastered

LONDON – The entire catalog of music by The Beatles is being digitally remastered for release in September.

Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music say they will release the new discs Sept. 9 on the same day as the release of a video game, "The Beatles: Rock Band."

Each of the dozen new CDs will include the original U.K. album art and expanded liner notes.

Apple and EMI will also release "The Beatles in Mono" with the original monaural versions of 10 albums plus some other bits in mono.

Apple and EMI made no mention in their announcement Tuesday about plans for digital distribution.